Chef Jerry Phillips has a problem. He has to make everything — even a simple peanut sauce — from scratch.
And his peanut sauce recipe is hardly a one-two-three kind of thing.
“It’s a two-day process,” he explained. “But it’s part of my craft. I can’t let it go.”
The new chef at O’Meara Bros. Brewing Company in Lakeport cannot resist a culinary challenge. That means soups and sauces created in house, an ever-changing menu based as much as possible on seasonal ingredients and creative fusion of global cuisine.
Oh — and moving from a post at the Chicago Cubs spring training facility in Arizona to a brewpub kitchen in Lake County.
Phillips replaces founding O’Meara Bros. chef Roy Iverson, who recently retired. It was Iverson who opened the kitchen and, working with owners Alex and Tim O’Meara, developed the location into a destination.
The success of O’Meara Bros. attracted Phillips back to Lake County.
“I’m not complaining,” said the 1985 Kelseyville High School graduate. “Roy did a good job.”
The foundation and the following represents a different sort of challenge to Phillips. He can experiment with beer as a fundamental ingredient, already introducing Tim O’Meara’s creations into almost every recipe he has developed. And he can draw from Lake County’s farms and markets.
“Farm to table — I’m trying to work more of that in,” the chef explained.
His Lake County salad, for example, will be a feast that moves with the seasons. As tomatoes ripen, they will be added to the mix. When pear and walnut harvest comes, he will find a way to work them in.
Phillips’ love of a challenge and interest in fusion has been evident. Over the last two weeks he prepared grilled pork loin with bacon-onion jam, an Asian fish taco with gulf shrimp, lemon-ginger crusted salmon and chicken fried Cornish game hen.
The recipes indicate a familiarity with Asian flavors, certainly. Yet he also enjoys working with dishes inspired by the kitchens of the American south, such as collard greens and grits.
“I love grits,” Phillips said. “I’ll take grits over polenta. But I’m trained in classical Italian.”
After graduating from KHS, he completed culinary school and then worked resorts in California and Arizona. From time to time he would open a restaurant, but he also ventured into catering and worked as a private chef.
In between, he spent 13 years as an instructor for the Santa Barbara City College culinary program.
By seeking new challenges, he has developed a great range of techniques and picked up on nuances to familiar recipes.
“We are thrilled to have him,” Tim O’Meara said. “Customers are already praising his unique specials.”
Phillips plans to rotate specials on a weekly basis. He also anticipates frequent visits to the local farmers’ markets. Having an experienced staff gives him confidence to play with the menu.
“You have to be creative,” he explained. “People expect what they were getting in San Francisco or Sacramento.”
So if Phillips wants to wait a couple days for a sauce to develop, it’s not really a problem. Oh, some might see it as an obsession, sure. And it may be a challenge.
But to Phillips, it’s also something more elemental.
“It’s fun,” he said.
